7/13/2024
Sharon Speedway
BOBBY PIERCE SWEEPS THE WORLD OF OUTLAWS LATE MODEL WEEKEND AT SHARON FOR $25,000; CHAS WOLBERT RETURNS TO GLORY IN RUSH MODS
By Mike Leone
July 13, 2024
(Hartford, OH)…After a sunny and hot start to the day on Saturday, storms developed and dumped torrential rain on Sharon Speedway late in the afternoon. The show went on though as the sky cleared in the evening, and the rain and humid conditions produced fast racing on the 3/8-mile clay oval for the fans in attendance and viewers around the world on DIRTVision. Night two of the "Battle at the Border" saw Bobby Pierce return to the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply victory lane in the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models and was joined by Chas Wolbert in the HTMA/Precise Racing Products RUSH Sportsman Modifieds presented by Bala Management.
One night after becoming the 13th different winner in 15 World of Outlaws features contested all-time at Sharon, Bobby Pierce made it a clean sweep of the $25,000 "Battle at the Border". Pierce slid Series points leader Brandon Sheppard on lap 30 and drove a masterful race through lapped traffic over the remaining laps in the 50-lap feature for the $15,000 payday. Just as impressive, it was Pierce's third win in as many nights, fourth straight, and Series leading ninth of 2024.
“That track was tough tonight,” stated 27-year-old Oakwood, IL winner. “I kept thinking if we made the right tire choice again because Brandon (Sheppard) was on a completely different tire. But, I could tell he was driving hard and I wasn’t pushing as much as he was. So, it had me a little worried but he was getting tight and I was cutting through the corner pretty good. That’s when my chance came and got around him through the slide. It was a fun race to have the bottom and top so when you got into a battle, it was hard for me to pass a guy like Chub Frank around the bottom. The track really transitioned there and it was nice to have a track that moves around like that.”
Dennis Erb, Jr., the 2022 Series champion, and Sheppard, a four-time Series champion, led the 24-car starting field to green with Erb taking the early advantage over Sheppard and Pierce. Sheppard drove around Erb off turn four to lead lap three, and by lap four the lead trio quickly distanced themselves from the rest of the field. Pierce moved up to the top and worked his way around Erb for second on lap seven.
Lapped traffic came into play on lap nine as Sheppard and Pierce separated themselves from Erb. A caution for a spin in turn two by local Eric Wilson with 15 laps scored would be the last stoppage of the event. When racing resumed, sixth starting Ryan Gustin moved into fourth and one lap later passed Erb for third. As the laps ticked off, Sheppard started getting tight running the cushion. On lap 30, Sheppard nearly got into the fence in turns one and two and as he scrubbed off speed, Pierce slid underneath him for what would be the winning pass.
Over the final 20 laps, Pierce navigated lapped traffic to perfection as he could pass cars at will all over the racey surface and would take the checkered flag first by a commanding 3.269 seconds in the Hoker Trucking/Churchill Transport/Low Voltage Solutions-sponsored #32. It was Pierce's 27th career Series win, which have all come in the past four years.
Sheppard's runner-up allowed him to maintain the Series points lead. Gustin, who is one of just three drivers now to win multiple World of Outlaws features at Sharon, was third for the second straight night. Brian Shirley and Kyle Bronson battled throughout much of the event with Shirley nabbing the fourth spot. Bronson, who started 10th, came up one spot shy of his Friday night fourth place effort in fifth.
Erb dropped to sixth over Cade Dillard. Rookie-of-the-year points leader, Dustin Sorensen, went 13th to 8th. Tyler Bruening was ninth. One night after failing to make the feature, Chub Frank had a solid run going 19th to 10th. Pierce set fast time over the 30-car field in qualifying with a 15.810. Heat winners were Pierce, Shirley, and Gustin, while Frank won an entertaining last chance B main.
Chas Wolbert ended the 2021 season victorious in the "Apple Festival Nationals" on September 11 in the RUSH Sportsman Modifieds. Wolbert moved up to the Big-Block Modified division in 2022 and continued running the class before deciding to return to return to the Chevrolet Performance crate engine-powered division that features sealed/spec Bilstein Shocks and Hoosier Tires in 2024. Wolbert picked up three wins around the circuit this season, and on Saturday night made a winning Sharon debut in the $800 to-win 20-lap HTMA/Precise Racing Products feature presented by Bala Management. Wolbert started fifth and made the winning pass on lap three and went unchallenged to his milestone 50th overall Series win in the division!
"It's unfortunate but it's a good car- first race, first win on it so we'll take that," explained the 29-year-old Warren, Ohio racer. "Thank you to Sharon Speedway for having us and I'm glad to be here with the World of Outlaws. This car was really good in the heat race. We really didn't have any time to make any adjustments. It was a good racing surface. I have a good crew and a couple of my buddies showed up."
Doug Rutana and Caden Petry led the 21-car field to green with Rutana leading the opening lap before a caution for Cole Edwards. When racing resumed on lap two, Petry used the outside to power into the lead with Wolbert following. A caution for Lucas Canon slowed action again with only two laps completed. Back under green, Wolbert made what would be the winning pass as he became the third different leader in as many laps, while Garrett Krummert moved into second. Eighth starting Ayden Cipriano then passed Petry for third on lap five before the event's third and final caution with six laps completed for Dalton Gabriel.
When racing resumed for good, Wolbert pulled away while the battle was on for second between Krummert and Cipriano. After battling numerous laps, Cipriano finally made the pass on lap 18. By now, Wolbert was long gone as he cruised to his 21st career Sharon win by a comfortable 2.650 seconds in his Alcon Mechanical/Ohio Intra Express/CT Wolbert Trucking/Dunkin of Warren/Russ King Racing/Race 1/ZM Excavating/Youngstown Powder Coating-sponsored #c3.
Cipriano was second over Krummert. Seventh starting Kole Holden, who leads RUSH's $3,500 to-win Weekly Series points, passed Petry on lap 13 to finish fourth. JC Boyer, who entered the night as the Wedge Motorsports "Route 7 Rumble" Series points leader, was fifth. Petry and Rutana dropped to sixth and seventh respectively after leading early. Darin Gallagher was eighth. Logen Lockhart went 15th to 9th as Karston King completed the top 10. After a heat race crash in his brand new car, Jacob Jordan started 19th and finished 11th to earn the $100 Summit Racing Equipment Hard Charger gift card. Heat winners over the 21-car field were King, Wolbert, and Boyer.
Coming up on Saturday, July 20 will be a "Steel Valley Thunder" program featuring the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply UMP Modifieds presented by A&MP Electric for $1,000 to-win along with the Billy's Garage RUSH Sprint Cars, HTMA/Precise Racing Products RUSH Sportsman Modifieds, and the Whelen Econo Mods presented by Alcon Mechanical. General admission is just $10 plus free hot dogs & $2 beers! It's also First Responders Night. Pits open at 4 p.m. with grandstands at 5 and racing at 7.
World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models (50 laps, $15,000 to-win): 1. 32-BOBBY PIERCE[3]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin[6]; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson[10]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[1]; 7. 97-Cade Dillard[8]; 8. 19-Dustin Sorensen[13]; 9. 16-Tyler Bruening[5]; 10. 1-Chub Frank[19]; 11. 44-Dave Hess Jr[11]; 12. 9-Nick Hoffman[23]; 13. 02-Michael Norris[9]; 14. B1-Brent Larson[16]; 15. 22-Max McLaughlin[21]; 16. 97JR-Cody Overton[12]; 17. 14W-Dustin Walker[17]; 18. 1Z-Logan Zarin[18]; 19. J4-John Garvin Jr[7]; 20. 12B-Andy Boozel[15]; 21. 217-Eric Wilson[24]; 22. 1C-Alex Ferree[20]; 23. 0-Ryan Scott[22]; 24. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[14].
DNQ for the feature: Doug Drown (12), Bump Hedman (B22), Gregg Satterlee (22), Kevin Smith (97), Mike Smith (96).
HTMA/Precise Racing Products RUSH Sportsman Modifieds presented by Bala Management (20 laps, $800 to-win): 1. C3-CHAS WOLBERT[5]; 2. 5C-Ayden Cipriano[8]; 3. 10S-Garrett Krummert[3]; 4. 2-Kole Holden[7]; 5. 12-JC Boyer[4]; 6. 7P-Caden Petry[2]; 7. 46R-Doug Rutana[1]; 8. 10-Darin Gallagher[11]; 9. 58-Logen Lockhart[15]; 10. 165K-Karston King[6]; 11. 28J-Jacob Jordan[19]; 12. 57R-Jacob Rutana[13]; 13. JD57-Jordan Ehrenberg[9]; 14. 1R-Brandon Ritchey[12]; 15. 29A-Anthony Antus[16]; 16. 333G-Dalton Gabriel[14]; 17. 7K-Brenten Kay[10]; 18. 2LC-Lucas Canon[17]; 19. B4-Brayden Beatty[21]; 20. 29-Cole Edwards[18]; 21. 9H-Jacob McElravy[20].
Sharon Speedway is owned by the Blaney, Weller, and Kirila Families and is a 3/8-mile dirt track located on Custer-Orangeville Road in Hartford, Ohio near the intersection of Routes 7 & 305. For more information, check out the website at www.sharonspeedway.com or call 330-772-5481. Become a fan of Sharon Speedway on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sharonspeedway and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sharonspdwy.
Article Credit: Mike Leone
